Polls: Technology

Low Price Tariffs and Quality Of Service Remain Key for Customer Retention

Abuja, Nigeria. December 17th, 2013 – The Yearly Special Edition Telecoms Poll results releasedbyNOIPolls Limited has revealed that the majority (63%) of mobile phone owning adult Nigerians currently use two or more phone lines in 2013, this is down from (74%) in 2012. Findings indicate that the proportion of adult Nigerians using one line has increased by (11%) in 2013. Also half of the respondents (50%) rated the services of their main network provider as good while 55% affirmed they are getting value for money from their main network provider. This proportion (55%) has remained constant over the two year period, however those that claim they are not getting value for money increased by 8-points in 2013. The key factors used by customers to define value for money were “network/ service quality” and “price tariffs”. Other topline results show that only (2%) of respondents have ported since the beginning of the portability drive, (26%) of respondents (majority) see the promotions of MNOs as fake (up by 22-points in 2013) and, in order to generally improve the quality of telecommunication services in Nigeria majority of respondents (60%) suggested that “Network operators should be mandated to improve on their services”. These were the key findings from the Telecommunications Snap Poll conducted in the week of December 9th 2013.

The Nigeria telecommunication sector has witnessed significant growth over the years and remains one of the best and fastest growing sectors of the Nigerian economy. The industry is ranked the largest and fastest growing telecom market in Africa and among the ten fastest telecommunication growth markets in the world. As at September 2013 the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) estimated a total of 121,271,218 subscribers and a teledensity of 86.62 in Nigeria.[1]

The industry which contributes about 8.53% to the GDP (March 2013) has recently experienced a slow growth rate and series of challenges ranging from poor quality of service to steep competition. This implies that service providers rely heavily on price tariffs to gain market share and dominance leading to a perceived fall in the quality of service and an increasing rate of dissatisfaction amongst users.

Against this background NOIPolls conducted this special edition poll on the quality of telecommunication services in Nigeria to explore the mobile phone usage patterns, quality of services provide by telecommunications providers and recommendation to improve the quality of services. The result presented is the second in series of annual telecommunication polls conducted by NOIPolls; the first was conducted in 2012.

Respondents were asked a series of specific questions, the first question sought to establish the mobile phone usage pattern of Nigerians. Respondents were asked: How many phone lines do you currently use? Responses showed that majority of the respondents (63% in total) currently use more than one phone line compared to 37%who currently use only one phone line.

When the findings are compared with those obtained from 2012, it is observed that fewer Nigerians now use more than one phone line in 2013(63%) than in 2012 (74%). This is evident based on the observation that there was a significant 11-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that currently use only one phone line from 2012 (26%) to 2013 (37%). This can be tied to the observation that the network providers currently have comparatively similar price tariffs; in addition many subscribers that have previously tested various networks have now settled on 1 main line to use.

Subsequently, with the aim of identifying the main line respondents use among the different networks, respondents were asked: Which network do you most frequently use?Analysis revealed that 84% of the respondents declared MTN as the main line they use, followed by Airtel with 7% of subscribers, Glo with 6% of subscribers and Etisalat with 3% of subscribers.

Further analysis by geo-political zones revealed that the South-South zone (91%) had the highest proportion of respondents that use MTN as their main line; the North-East zone (17%) accounts for the highest proportion of respondents that use Airtel as their major line. In addition, while majority of respondent that use Glo as their main line are from the North-Central zone (18%), the North-West zone (9%) had the highest proportion of respondents that confirmed Etisalat as their main line.

When the figures recorded in 2012 were compared with this current poll, there was a 6-point increase in the proportion of Nigerians that currently use the MTN network as their main line from 2012 (78%) to 2013 (84%).Conversely, there was a 2-point and a 3-point decline in the proportion of Nigerians that use Airtel and Etisalat as their main lines from 2012 to 2013.In addition, the proportion of Nigerians that subscribe to the Glo network as their main line remained constant in both surveys.

The next question sought to gauge the perceptions of Nigerians on the quality of service received from their main network providers, respondents were asked: At present how would you rate the services of your main network provider? Overall, half of the respondents (50%) rated the services of their main network provider as good; this is followed by 27% who rated their services as average. However, while 13% rated the services as very good, 8% rated the services as bad while 2% say the services of their main network provider are very bad. These results indicate that respondents mostly have a positive view about the services of their main network provider with a total of 90% giving an above average rating and total of 10% giving their main network provider a below average rating.

Cross analysis of the rating of the services provided by the main network used by respondents reveals that Airtel has the most favourable rating by its users out of all the network providers; 83% (51%+32%) gave a good rating of the services provided by Airtel. This is followed by Etisalat 79% (47%+32%), Glo 70% (56%+14%) and MTN 60% (49%+11%).

In order to further assess the performance respondents were asked: Are you getting value for money from your main network provider? Responses revealed that the slight majority 55% of the respondent affirmed they are getting value for money from their main network provider while 45% claim they are not getting value for money.

Again cross analysis of the respondents perception of value by the individual network providers revealed that Etisalat has the highest proportion of users that perceive they are getting value from them (97%). This is followed by Glo (75%), Airtel (72%) and MTN (51%).

Comparing the figures obtained from the same survey conducted in 2012 and this current poll, it can be seen that the total proportion of respondents that affirmed they are getting value for money has remained constant while those that perceive they do not receive value money increased by 8-points in 2013.

Furthermore, respondents (55% of the total) that indicated they are getting value for money from their main network provider were asked: Why are you getting value for money? Overall, majority (42%) of the respondents asserted they are getting value for money due to the “network/ service quality”. Other reasons that were mentioned include “cheaper tariff” indicated by 39% of the respondents, “bonus offers” suggested by 22%, “family and friends” offer indicated by 21%. In addition, while 19% say they are getting value for money due to the “internet bundles” provided by their main network provider 12% say it is because of their “promotional offers”

A trend of the results obtained from the current survey and that of 2012 revealed a significant 25-points increase in the proportion of respondents that indicated “cheaper tariff” as the main reason why they claim they are getting value for money, a 12-point decline in bonus offers and a 2-point decline in Network/service quality.

Finally, in order to identify ways of improving telecommunication services from the perspective of subscribers, all respondents were asked: What measures should be taken to improve telecommunication services in Nigeria? The overall majority of respondents (60%) suggested that “Network operators should be mandated to improve on their services”. This is followed by 35% of the respondents who indicated “there should be a tariff consideration” and 9% who stated that “network operators should create a wider coverage”.

Further analysis based on geo-political zone revealed that the South-East zone (77%) had the highest proportion of respondents that propose “Network operators should be mandated to improve on their services” and the North-East zone (42%) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents that suggested “there should be a tariff consideration”.

In conclusion, the telecommunication poll has revealed that has revealed that the majority (63%) of mobile phone owning adult Nigerians currently use two or more phone lines in 2013, this is down from (74%) in 2012. Findings indicate that the proportion of adult Nigerians using one line has increased by (11%) in 2013. Also half of the respondents (50%) rated the services of their main network provider as good while 55% affirmed they are getting value for money from their main network provider. This proportion (55%) has remained constant over the two year period, however those that claim they are not getting value for money increased by 8-points in 2013. The key factors used by customers to define value for money were “network/ service quality” and “price tariffs”. Other topline results show that only (2%) of respondents have ported since the beginning of the portability drive, (26%)of respondents (majority) see the promotions of MNOs as fake (up by 22-points in 2013) and, in order to generally improve the quality of telecommunication services in Nigeria majority of respondents (60%) suggested that “Network operators should be mandated to improve on their services”.

The opinion poll was conducted on December 9th to 11th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise - within a range of plus or minus 3%. NOIPolls Limited, No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa, works in technical partnership with the Gallup Organisation (USA), to conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com

Disclaimer

This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the general public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published.

NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect its views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or fact or for any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken as a result of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions or views herein constitute a judgment as at the date of this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not reflect NOIPolls’ current findings and/or thinking.